In my preparations for playing for the Sunday service tomorrow, I happened upon this little sacred work. I had not known of this before and I don't know if it's familiar to people or not, but I can't help post the poem here, written by Adelaide Anne Procter.
Seated one day at the organ,
I was weary and ill at ease,
And my fingers wander'd idly,
Over the noisy keys;
I know not what I was playing,
Or what I was dreaming then;
But I struck one chord of music
like the sound of a great Amen.
Like the sound of a great Amen.
It flooded the crimson twilight
Like the close of an angel's psalm,
And it lay on my fever'd spirit,
With a touch of infinite calm,
It quieted pain and sorrow,
Like love overcoming strife,
It seem'd the harmonious echo
From our discordant life,
It link'd all perplexed meanings,
Into one perfect peace,
And trembled away into silence,
As if it were loth to cease;
I have sought, but I seek it vainly,
That one lost chord divine,
Which came from the soul of the organ,
And enter'd into mine.
It may be that Death's bright Angel,
Will speak in that chord again,
It may be that only in Heav'n
I shall hear that grand Amen.
It may be that Death's bright Angel,
Will speak that chord again,
It may be that only in Heav'n
I shall hear that grand Amen.